The positive effect of workplace accommodations on the continued employment of cancer survivors five years after diagnosis

Purpose To address the gap highlighted in the literature on the effect of professional interventions to facilitate continued employment, this study aims to evaluate the effect of workplace accommodations on the continued employment 5 years after a cancer diagnosis. Methods This study is based on VICAN5, a French survey conducted in 2015-2016 to examine the living conditions of cancer survivors 5 years after diagnosis. Two subsamples, one with and one without workplace accommodations, were matched using a propensity score to control for the individual, professional, and medical characteristics potentially associated with receipt of workplace accommodations. Results The study sample was composed of 1514 cancer survivors aged 18-54 and employed as salaried at diagnosis. Among them, 61.2% received workplace accommodations within 5 years after diagnosis: 35.5% received a modified workstation, 41.5% received a modified schedule, and 49.2% received reduced hours. After matching, receipt of workplace accommodations appeared to improve the continued employment rate 5 years after cancer diagnosis from 77.8% to 95.0%. Conclusions Receipt of workplace accommodations strongly increases the continued employment of cancer survivors 5 years after diagnosis. More research is needed to better understand the differences in receipt of workplace accommodations along with the related selection effect.